How to Improve Communication at Work: A Practical Guide
Poor communication costs companies money. It makes teamwork difficult and ultimately drives away talent.
Unfortunately fixing communication at work is not simple. Trainings fall short, management is busy and real culture change takes time.
To address these issues we offer scenario based interactive workshops. Here is a short introduction to how it actually works
The Real Problem Isn’t What You Think
Most teams handle obvious issues well. Harassment? There's HR for that. Bullying? Clear protocols exist.
The real damage happens in gray zones. Someone makes a joke. It feels off. But it's not "bad enough" to report.
So people stay quiet. These moments pile up. Trust erodes. Teams stop talking. This is where culture breaks down.
Why Your Current Solutions Don’t Work
Your company probably has systems for big problems. An ombudsperson. HR procedures. Many companies also have culture and value statements like „we respect everyone“. Some even have culture ambassadors.
But gray zones fall through the cracks.
Managers are busy and don't always know what is growing to be a larger issue. They avoid giving specific guidelines because nobody wants to police speech. Employees resist being told what they can say (or cannot say). Culture statements are too vague and generic to provide guidance at crucial moments.
So nothing changes. The gray zones stay gray.
What Makes Role Play Training Different
Role play puts people in someone else's shoes. You take on a different position. You see another perspective. Understanding grows naturally.
We use scenarios similar to real issues and this is key. Identical scenarios might turn into finger pointing, and put one group against the other. So the role-play scenarios we develop for our workshops are similar enough to feel relevant but different enough to feel safe.
Our fishbowl style keeps pressure low. If you’d like, you can sit back and observe. Or jump in to the discussion when you are ready. There is no forced participation.
In the end teams define their work culture and their own solutions together. They decide what's appropriate. They create their own action plans.
How We Design Scenarios That Work
This is art, not science.
We start with interviews. We send culture surveys. We talk to management and HR. We listen carefully.
Then we tweak real situations slightly. Same dynamics. Different details.
This protects privacy. It creates psychological safety. People engage without feeling exposed.
Results You Can Actually See
Paradigm shifts happen fast in our workshops. In a recent session, we ran five scenarios. By the third scenario, people started asking better questions. They confronted inappropriate comments. They created strategies together.
By scenario five? Teams solved problems directly.
After working together, your team will learn to:
Ask questions when confused
Share feelings when hurt
Address issues before they grow
Communicate proactively, not reactively
Better communication doesn't require more rules. It requires practice in safe spaces. Contact us if you are interested in one of our workshops.
